I always thought that too, but I rewatched both and 4 is actually better in my opinion. 3 spends a long time getting things going after the initial opening sequence.

1 is pretty outdated, it's treatment of women especially, and some things just make absolutely zero sense. After Jon Voigts wife has brutally betrayed Ethan at the end, Jon Voigt shoots her instead of Ethan for literally no reason, Ethan tends to her while Voigt walks straight past him and out of the train...and then he goes after him. The whole sequence is utterly devoid of logic and makes very clear that the only other female character in the film is there too look good and get everyone all hot, bothered and very confused.

Yeah I think it's because of those sequences that a lot of people think 3 is better on first viewing. They are really intense. Watching it again and knowing the outcome really takes a lot out of the film though and the supporting characters are all a bit, naff.

The visual work at play in 4 from Brad Bird is really incredible. The whole Dubai sequence, all 20 minutes of it, is so well done. The bit at the end with the dust storm especially so. The only weakness is that the last section in India feels a bit at odds with the rest of the film and it suffers from the trope that no matter how physically unfit the villain is and how incredibly lethal the hero is, they're a good match in the final fist fight.

As reported, Smith opened up about Mallrats 2 on his Hollywood Babble-On Podcast, saying that the idea has been around since producer James Jacks first began pushing for it shortly after the original’s release. Unfortunately, Jacks himself is no longer around, having died last year. So now Smith wants to pay tribute to Jacks’ passion by seeing that his idea lives on, and making the film that Jacks spent so much of his life championing—even during the times when Smith himself would deride it:

Jim Jacks never strawberry floating lost faith. Even when I would kick Mallrats and make fun of it, Jacks was always the guy going “No man. Know what would be funny and what’s gonna redeem us? Mallrats 2: Die Hard In A Mall.” So it was one of those things that was an ongoing theme in his life.

"As I said, he passed away a year ago. I had lost touch with him for quite a few years before that and this was the biggest strawberry floating fan of movies you’ve ever known in your life. And Clerks was the thing that kicked off my career but Mallrats brought me into a complete different world and that movie doesn’t get made without this dude at Universal going, “Let’s make it, let’s make it.” So I felt real shitty about missing the last years of his life and I met some people who were like, “We ate with Jim every strawberry floating Thursday night and he still talked about you.” I hadn’t seen him in years and he was still talking about me and that movie. So a year ago I was sitting here talking about this gooseberry fool and I was like “I wanna honor the man in some way” and this is how we’re gonna do it. We’re gonna finally make the movie I wish to Christ I made when he was living, man. So we’re finally going to make Mallrats 2."

While this confirms that Smith is clearly dead serious about making Mallrats 2, as well as about making us feel terrible for preemptively dumping on Mallrats 2, not much else is known about it just yet—particularly whether the Die Hard In A Mall concept is still in play. But whatever structure it takes, Mallrats 2 will stand as a living tombstone for that optimism. Like a mall.

Screw the haters, I want this.

Me too, Mallrats is one of my favourite films, i bought it on VHS sometime in the late 90's and watched the hell out of it. I recently watched it about 3 weeks ago.

More news on Mallrats 2 and the film is definitely happening. If you follow kevin smith on twitter he is showing photos of the actors confirmed for the sequel , only 2 people left to show . So far confirmed areJason LeeJoey Lauren AdamsMichael RookerRenee Humphrey (who played trish the dish)Jeremy LondonEthan SupleeShannen DohertyJason MewesStan LeeKevin Smith (Of Course)